Leaky Pipes
by coffee666
Summary: Steve hated it when Bucky dragged him to the gym. he just didn't like the looks he got from the other guys. They looked at him like all ninety pounds had no business in such a place. But today he can't work out because he's distracted. He watched as this beautiful girl did 107 one armed push-ups. It was the most mesmerizing thing he'd ever seen. Modern AU. Steve/Peggy


Steve hated it when Bucky dragged him to the gym. It's not that he didn't like working out – on the contrary, actually—he just didn't like the looks he got from the other guys. They looked at him like all ninety pounds had no business in a place like that.

But he was usually able to hold his own – with proper pacing and breathing. That's why he liked to go on days where it wasn't very full. He'd stopped comparing himself to Bucky long ago – deciding not to feel bad whenever he saw Bucky bench almost twice what Steve even weighed.

Today, Steve stood on the inactive treadmill, earbuds hanging around his shoulders. He and Bucky had made plans to run a few miles and then get some lunch, but Steve hadn't even gotten started yet.

That was all due to the fact that there was a girl working out only a few yards away to his left, and Steve had just counted as she did one-hundred and seven _one armed _push-ups. It was easily the most mesmerizing thing he'd ever seen.

"You're staring." Bucky hissed in Steve's ear from the next treadmill over, on his right.

"Was I?" Steve quickly looked away from the girl, blushing to the tips of his ear.

"You were…" Bucky smirked and reached for his water bottle.

"That girl…" Steve whispered, glancing back at her for a moment. "Do you know her?"

"Nah." Bucky slowed his pace down slightly. "But I've seen her here before, a few times actually."

Steve looked back at the girl again. Her hair was tied back and she wore a red tank-top and black shorts. She also had one of those black arm bands that held an ipod. With earbuds in, she was still diligently working on push-ups, occasionally switching arms.

"That's amazing, isn't it?" Steve asked Bucky, who was also glancing in her direction.

"That's no big deal." Bucky huffed, speeding up again. "I could do that too."

"Yea, but _I _couldn't." Steve said, his eyes widening. "That's why I said it was amazing."

Steve turned the treadmill one on of the low settings and began jogging. After about half an hour, Bucky finished and took a seat on a nearby bench.

"Man, I'm starving." Bucky said, downing the rest of his water.

Steve looked back over at the girl. She was standing now, and taking gulps from her own water bottle. He watched the way her toned arms glistened with sweat. She lowered her bottle and glanced in his direction. They locked eyes for a moment before Steve quickly looked away – though he could have sworn he saw her smile slightly. He turned off the treadmill and went to sit next to Bucky.

"Do you think…I should go talk to that girl?" Steve asked.

"No way." Bucky said. "Girls don't like it when you talk to them at the gym. They come to work out, not to get hit on."

"You're probably right." Steve nodded, glancing once more at the girl who was now doing push-ups again. "I wouldn't wanna make her uncomfortable."

"Well, let's go get some lunch." Bucky stood up and stretched. "I'm starved."

"Uh, you go on ahead." Steve said, his eyes still on his unnamed object of affection. "I wanna hit the showers."

"Whatever you say." Bucky grabbed his stuff. "I'll just eat across the street then."

"Uh huh." Steve nodded.

"Why don't you take a picture, it'll last longer." Bucky smirked before walking towards the front doors.

Steve closed his eyes and tried to relax and slow down his breathing. Honestly that was half the reason he wanted to stay behind – he just couldn't keep up with Bucky half the time. And Bucky knew this and always tried to slow down for Steve's sake. But sometimes that wasn't good enough. Steve had to be alone to set his own pace every once in a while.

When he opened his eyes again, the girl was gone. He sighed and gathered his gym bag and went towards the men's locker room. The gym was practically empty now – but when he opened the door to the locker room he saw the girl standing at the sink.

For a split second, he wondered if he'd went into the wrong room by mistake, but then she locks eyes with him through the mirror.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said, turning around to face him. "I didn't think anyone else would be in here."

"…Sorry." Steve stammered. He can't even think because not only can this girl do over a hundred one armed push-ups, but she's _English_ too.

"The girl's room is out of order because of leaky pipes." She explained.

"…Leaky pipes?" he asked. He probably sounded like an idiot, just repeating what she said. But she just sort of looked at him in an amused way. "I can – I can just go…" he said, reaching for the door behind him.

"Oh, I don't mean to put you out." She said quickly, picking up her gym bag. "Just pay me no mind." She walked across the locker room and into one of the shower stalls. After a moment, Steve heard the shower turn on.

He suddenly felt warm all over and his palms were sweating because there was a girl _naked _in the shower a few yards away – and meanwhile Bucky was eating Subway down the street.

Steve debated just leaving. After all, he wasn't that sweaty. But if he showed up at lunch without having a shower, Bucky would know something was up. He'd probably pester Steve into telling him everything about running into that girl in the locker room. He'd _never _hear the end of it then. At least if he gets a shower he can just show up to lunch acting like nothing was out of sorts, and Bucky would be none the wiser.

So he goes into one of the shower stalls and sets his stuff down on the little bench. He slowly gets undressed and turns on the shower. He takes as long as he can before he's worried about being late to lunch. He turns of the shower and listens to see if that girl is still in the locker room. He doesn't hear the other shower running.

He hastily gets dressed, drying his floppy blond hair before shoving his sweaty clothes and wet towel into his bag. He opens the shower stall and almost gasps because the girl in still in the room.

She's at the sink again. She's out of gym clothes and is now in a skirt and blouse. She leaned close to the mirror and started putting on make-up.

Steve remembered what Bucky said about girls not wanting to get hit on at the gym. But did that apply to after they'd finished working out? Maybe he could just talk to her.

He sat down on one of the benches outside and started putting his shoes on. He looked at her reflection in the mirror and saw she was putting on red lipstick.

"Um…I saw you doing push-ups…" he said. She looked up, locking eyes with him through the mirror again.

"Pardon?" she asked.

"I…saw you do like a hundred one armed push-ups." He explained. He felt his heart hammer in his chest and he wondered if he should have said anything at all.

"Only a hundred?" she asked with a smirk. "That's not my best…I must be off my game."

"Are you kidding me?" Steve can't help but exclaim. "What's your best?"

"One seventy-five even." She smiled, digging in her purse for some blush.

"That's amazing." He said, and she laughed.

"It's not really…I mean, it's not as hard as people think. You just need to practice." She leaned close to the mirror again and starting brushing the color onto her cheeks. Steve briefly wondered if she was getting ready for a date. "The thing is to remember to breathe."

"Yea, well…that's not so easy when you have asthma." He said it without thinking. He instantly regretted it because, oh god, what if she started pitying him? He hated when girls pitied him because of his size or anything.

"You just need to keep trying." She said, seeming unphased by his comment. She pulled a brush out of her bag and began brushing her hair. "I know what it's like to feel like you'll never get somewhere because of the things you can't change in your life. But that's just it…you can't change them, so no point in trying. You'll just have to work around them…find another way."

She put her brush back in her bag and zipped it up. It looked like she was getting ready to leave, and Steve realized he should get ready to do the same.

"Thanks." He said, standing up. "Thanks for talking to me, miss."

"It's nothing." She smiled again. "And it's Peggy…what's your name?"

"Steve." He said, quieter than intended.

"I like you Steve." She said, and for a moment Steve thought his heart would burst out his chest. "You're sort of funny."

"Funny?" he repeated. He'd never been called funny by a girl before – sure, funny _looking _maybe. He figured it was now or never. "Hey, um…where are you headed now?"

"Just to a friend's place for a while." Peggy replied.

"Um…" he struggled for a moment to finds the words. "Would you be interested in going out sometime? If you want?" His heart starts hammering again, and really it's not good for his health, but then she turned around from the sink and looked at him face on.

"That sounds…nice." And she looked like she really meant it. She grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser and scrawls her number down in eye-liner. She walked over and handed it to him, giving him one last smile before leaving the locker room. Steve heard her heels clicking on the linoleum floor the whole way.

That night Steve stood alone in his bedroom wearing nothing but boxers as he worked on push-ups. After a while he made it to sixteen without feeling winded. He went to bed feeling better about himself than he had in a long time.


End file.
